1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) having excellent flexibility under high temperature.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 11-320104, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) is generally prepared by providing a base film side adhesive layer 2 on a base film 1, providing a metal foil layer 3, on which a pattern circuit is formed, on the base film side adhesive layer 2, and applying a cover layer film 5 on which a cover layer side adhesive layer 4 is applied.
The base film 1 is conventionally composed of a flexible film such as polyimide resin, polyethylene terephthalate resin (PET), and the like. Generally, a metal foil laminated film (Copper Composite Laminate (CCL)) which is prepared beforehand by attaching/applying the metal foil layer 3 to the whole base film 1 with the base film side adhesive layer 2 therebetween. A desired pattern circuit is formed on the metal foil layer 3 using a technique such as lithography and the like. The cover layer (Cover Layer (CL)) film 5 is a flexible film composed of, for example, polyimide resin, polyethylene terephthalate resin (PET), and the like. The cover layer side adhesive layer 4 is applied on one side of the cover layer film 5 and the cover layer film 5 is bonded to the base film 1 through the base film side adhesive layer 2 and the metal foil layer 3.
The obtained FPC often has a thickness approximately 0.1 mm or less and superior flexibility. Recently, the FPC is often used as a circuit board for a movable portion of various electronic devices, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) which is a data storage device for a personal computer. The HDD may be used as a picture recorder for a household video tape recorder (VTR), a data recorder for a digital camera, a data recorder for a car navigation system, and the like.
For the FPC which is used for a movable portion of the HDD, in order to obtain the above-mentioned superior (high) flexibility, it is necessary that the FPC has certain characteristics: (1) minimal peeling between a metal foil layer and an adhesive layer, and between the adhesive layer and a film, and (2) the base film layer and the base film side adhesive layer should have suitable flexibility (storage modulus) and minimal generation of local distortion at the metal foil layer. As an adhesive for an FPC, conventionally, epoxy resin adhesive is often used as an adhesive having both high adhesion and storage modulus.
In the above-mentioned recent electronic devices, due to the higher performance of various parts and elements, in particular, a CPU, their calorific values remarkably increase, and accordingly, temperatures in the electronic devices increase. For example, in a notebook personal computer various parts are densely mounted in its limited space, and as a result, a temperature in the computer sometimes rises to approximately 80xc2x0 C. when continuously used.
Since the conventional normal HDD is made on the assumption that the HDD is used under ordinary temperature (approximately 25xc2x0 C.), when an inner temperature increases, for example, to 80xc2x0 C. as described above, the flexibility of the FPC used in the HDD remarkably decreases.
The inventors of the present invention have diligently carried out research with regard to the flexibility decreasing depending on the rise in temperature, as described above, and found that there is a problem in the adhesive used in the FPC.
In an ordinary FPC, an epoxy resin adhesive is adopted in general as the base film side adhesive or the cover layer side adhesive. The epoxy resin adhesive is adjusted by adding a suitable amount of a hardening agent, a plasticizer, a flame retarder, or the like into the epoxy resin so that the epoxy resin adhesive has (1) a small coefficient of shrinkage when hardening, (2) a high peeling intensity (adhesion), (3) suitable flowability before hardening, (4) excellent electrical properties after hardening, and the like, and (5) the epoxy resin adhesive is prepared in low cost.
However, even if the epoxy resin adhesive has the above-mentioned properties, as an operating temperature rises, for example, the ordinary temperature rises to approximately 50xc2x0 C., the epoxy resin adhesive softens and its storage modulus tends to decrease. When the temperature rises to 60xc2x0 C. or higher, the resin remarkably softens and its storage modulus strikingly decreases.
By decreasing the storage modulus of the resin part in the FPC, partial distortion occurs easily at each part between layers (films and metal foil layer) of the FPC and, as a result, flexibility of the FPC decreases.
In light of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an FPC which has excellent stable flexibility by using an adhesive having a glass transition temperature (Tg) which is higher than an operating temperature of a circuit board.
To achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention provides a flexible printed circuit board comprising a base film; a base film side adhesive layer provided on the base film; a metal foil layer on which a pattern circuit is formed, provided on the base film side adhesive layer; and a cover layer side adhesive layer provided on the metal foil layer, wherein at least one of the base film side adhesive and the cover layer side adhesive layer has a higher glass transition temperature than an operating temperature of the flexible printed circuit board.
In the flexible printed circuit board, the glass transition temperature may be 60xc2x0 C. or higher.
Furthermore, in the flexible printed circuit board, the glass transition temperature may be 80xc2x0 C. or higher.
Furthermore, in the flexible printed circuit board, at least one of the base film side adhesive layer and the cover layer side adhesive layer may be made of an epoxy resin adhesive.
Furthermore, in the flexible printed circuit board, the bending life of the flexible printed circuit board may be ten million times or greater per minute at 60xc2x0 C.
Furthermore, in the flexible printed circuit board, the bending life of the flexible printed circuit board may be between a million times and ten million times per minute at 80xc2x0 C.
According to the above-mentioned aspect, in FPCs of the present invention, since at least one of the base film side adhesive layer and the cover layer side adhesive layer has a higher glass transition temperature than the operating temperature of the flexible printed circuit board, softening of the adhesive itself is prevented, and as a result, high flexibility is obtained. Particularly, when the glass transition temperature of the adhesive to be used is adjusted to 60xc2x0 C. or higher, preferably, 80xc2x0 C. or higher, even if an operating temperature, such as in the case of the current high density packaged type electronic device, rises to 50xc2x0 C. or higher, an FPC which is stable during use is provided.